We've just added a weatherproof wifiantenna and amplifier to our radar pole and whilst I'm not sure it will pick up wifi in the claimed range of 2 miles - it certainly gets me 13 stations as opposed to 0 before.
Found it on ebay at 'Your Wifi Guy' store.
Absolutely no connections other than a very happy customer. And this message is being sent via the link it created!!
So hopefully I'll be able to piggy back off other coastal wifi routers from now on - and save us using our expensive G3/GPRS card.
Cheers
JOHN

We've just added a weatherproof wifi antenna and amplifier to our radar pole and whilst I'm not sure it will pick up wifi in the claimed range of 2 miles - it certainly gets me 13 stations as opposed to 0 before.
Found it on ebay at 'Your Wifi Guy' store.
Absolutely no connections other than a very happy customer. And this message is being sent via the link it created!!
So hopefully I'll be able to piggy back off other coastal wifi routers from now on - and save us using our expensive G3/GPRS card.
Cheers
JOHN

Hi Swagman. Just took a look and can see no 2 mile antennae in the 'Your WiFi Guy' store on eBay. Maybe because he has none for sale right now. Do you have any further details of the antenna you have? A link to the eBay item, perhaps.

Also check out the goodies from Radiolabs - particularly the 15dB Omni. I have one of those that is being mounted on my radar arch, and I also use one of their yagis in a temporary setup when directionality can be maintained.

I have seen quite a bit of negative comments regarding Radiolabs lately especially regarding after sales support so a little research in advance won't hurt. There are lots of companies selling these antenna.

I can vouch that the Engenius is a very good solution. I have one attached to a 9dB omni and have connected to the internet from over 6 miles away (over water) and regularly connect 2-4 miles away. But I wouldn't pay $400 for it.

Mark

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

These guys and others in our area sell the long range antennas.shoppingCart

Any antenna designed to pick up something transmitting at a watt or less from two miles away is going to be a very directional antenna..which means you are going to need a way of aiming it. The greater your gain the lower the wattage you are allowed to transmit. You also need to consider the narrow shape of the lobe on a high gain, omni-directional antenna which may not work so reliably on an object that heels.

For some a Yagi type antenna might work well if you have a way of aiming the thing.

The solution I'm thinking about is putting a weatherproof 802.11g wireless bridge up high on my mizzen mast, and feed it with POE (power over ethernet). No signal losses over a long feedline to worry about...

There's some decent info here. I'm looking for sources other than the SENAO bridge listed there. May just place a Buffalo wireless router circuit board in an IPX-7 enclosure.

Forgot to mention: USB WiFi adapters should really only be considered for temporary solutions. USB cables are limited to 16 feet per spec. Ethernet over twisted pair, even if using remote power, is good for 90+ meters. Plus, it's possible to get marinized ethernet cabling and connectors. Not so with USB.